1 00:00:00,120 --> 00:00:02,440 Speaker 1: Who wants to go to the minstrel show. 2 00:00:02,640 --> 00:00:03,680 Speaker 2: It's one more. 3 00:00:03,520 --> 00:00:05,800 Speaker 3: Thing I'm strong. 4 00:00:09,280 --> 00:00:12,840 Speaker 2: Before we get to that, I was doing a little 5 00:00:12,840 --> 00:00:17,160 Speaker 2: research on bimbofication as the story just broke a little 6 00:00:17,160 --> 00:00:21,720 Speaker 2: bit ago about Christy Noms's husband, who is into the scene, 7 00:00:21,920 --> 00:00:24,520 Speaker 2: the bimbification scene apparently, as all the pictures have come 8 00:00:24,520 --> 00:00:27,760 Speaker 2: out of him in a tight little top with weig, 9 00:00:28,040 --> 00:00:30,560 Speaker 2: big giant fake breasts and tiny little. 10 00:00:30,360 --> 00:00:36,640 Speaker 1: Shorts reminds me of that weirdo teacher in Canada. Although 11 00:00:36,760 --> 00:00:39,240 Speaker 1: didn't he turn out to be making a statement I 12 00:00:39,320 --> 00:00:41,680 Speaker 1: don't know against political correctness. 13 00:00:41,760 --> 00:00:46,280 Speaker 2: I don't know. It usually includes large augmented breasts, heavy makeup, 14 00:00:46,280 --> 00:00:49,280 Speaker 2: blonde hair, form fitting or revealing clothing, and an affect 15 00:00:49,479 --> 00:00:54,680 Speaker 2: of a ditsy, carefree, sexually available femininity. And then so 16 00:00:54,760 --> 00:00:56,920 Speaker 2: the question I was asking, just the way he was dressed, 17 00:00:57,080 --> 00:01:00,200 Speaker 2: is he a gay dude? Not that that matters. It 18 00:01:00,200 --> 00:01:05,760 Speaker 2: matters to his wife. Probably they're in a heterosexual marriage. 19 00:01:06,600 --> 00:01:11,040 Speaker 2: But according to chat gbt anyway, the community, the bimblification 20 00:01:11,120 --> 00:01:17,080 Speaker 2: community is mostly women and LGBTQ dudes. I'm sure there 21 00:01:17,080 --> 00:01:21,320 Speaker 2: are some straight dudes, but it's mostly not so who knows. 22 00:01:21,600 --> 00:01:26,360 Speaker 3: I don't know many straight men that put on lipstick and. 23 00:01:26,400 --> 00:01:27,479 Speaker 2: Little pink tight shorts. 24 00:01:27,880 --> 00:01:31,760 Speaker 1: But he's super into like bimbo fied women because he 25 00:01:31,800 --> 00:01:34,840 Speaker 1: wants to be one. I don't know. 26 00:01:35,400 --> 00:01:40,840 Speaker 3: Wow wow, anyway, sounds like a long therapy session. 27 00:01:40,840 --> 00:01:42,600 Speaker 2: I have a feeling Oprah is going to come out 28 00:01:42,600 --> 00:01:45,240 Speaker 2: of retirement and do an interview with him. He will cry, 29 00:01:46,000 --> 00:01:48,240 Speaker 2: He'll go through an entire box of tissues and explain 30 00:01:48,280 --> 00:01:51,200 Speaker 2: how he's been hiding this as or Diane Sawyer, she 31 00:01:51,280 --> 00:01:54,400 Speaker 2: did the one with Bruce Jenner when he came out 32 00:01:54,440 --> 00:01:55,280 Speaker 2: as Caitlyn Jenner. 33 00:01:56,480 --> 00:01:59,600 Speaker 1: Yeah, so he'll have a good cry, deflate his balloon 34 00:01:59,680 --> 00:02:01,360 Speaker 1: boob and. 35 00:02:01,560 --> 00:02:03,760 Speaker 3: Re stuff with these tissues. 36 00:02:03,840 --> 00:02:07,320 Speaker 1: Pink shorts, and just like a man, damn it, like 37 00:02:07,320 --> 00:02:08,200 Speaker 1: a man, Ry. 38 00:02:08,120 --> 00:02:09,919 Speaker 2: Lewandowski will throw his head back in laughter. 39 00:02:11,120 --> 00:02:12,880 Speaker 1: Back to the minstrel show thing. 40 00:02:13,600 --> 00:02:16,359 Speaker 2: Oh and one other quick follow up to yesterday's One 41 00:02:16,400 --> 00:02:19,560 Speaker 2: More Thing podcast, which I'm going to assume if you're 42 00:02:19,560 --> 00:02:22,040 Speaker 2: listening to this one, you probably listened to yesterday's which 43 00:02:22,080 --> 00:02:24,040 Speaker 2: Joe brought us that author what was the guy's name? 44 00:02:24,080 --> 00:02:24,400 Speaker 1: Inman? 45 00:02:25,360 --> 00:02:28,160 Speaker 2: Yeah, Man, I did quite a deep dive on that 46 00:02:28,200 --> 00:02:32,519 Speaker 2: throughout the day yesterday fascinating stuff. There's tons and tons 47 00:02:32,560 --> 00:02:35,440 Speaker 2: of effect. The audio recorded almost all of it, So 48 00:02:35,480 --> 00:02:38,280 Speaker 2: there's audio recordings going over many, many many decades him 49 00:02:38,280 --> 00:02:40,640 Speaker 2: and his entire family every single day forever. 50 00:02:41,800 --> 00:02:46,239 Speaker 1: Yeah, he's absolutely a nut and cruel and selfish and 51 00:02:47,480 --> 00:02:50,760 Speaker 1: morally indefensible. But he collected an oral history of the 52 00:02:50,800 --> 00:02:52,919 Speaker 1: century unlike anything ever heard. 53 00:02:53,080 --> 00:02:56,239 Speaker 2: It's one of the most thorough diaries of an every 54 00:02:56,320 --> 00:02:58,000 Speaker 2: man in the history of the world. And then he 55 00:02:58,040 --> 00:02:59,839 Speaker 2: puts a bullet in his head at age sixty three, 56 00:03:00,280 --> 00:03:01,120 Speaker 2: and that's the end of that. 57 00:03:02,120 --> 00:03:06,880 Speaker 1: Yeah. I actually ordered a five hundred plus page edition 58 00:03:06,919 --> 00:03:09,519 Speaker 1: of that. I mean it's it runs, what I say, 59 00:03:09,520 --> 00:03:12,160 Speaker 1: twenty five times as long as the Bible in its entirety. 60 00:03:12,919 --> 00:03:16,480 Speaker 1: Who as the time, ain't nobody got time for that anyway. 61 00:03:17,800 --> 00:03:21,399 Speaker 1: Minstrel shows fits into and I mentioned this. I can't 62 00:03:21,440 --> 00:03:24,400 Speaker 1: remember what the other one was, but it's USA two fifty, 63 00:03:25,440 --> 00:03:28,079 Speaker 1: which is a year long Wall Street Journal series examining 64 00:03:28,160 --> 00:03:30,240 Speaker 1: America's first two hundred and fifty years. And they look 65 00:03:30,280 --> 00:03:35,680 Speaker 1: at different aspects of American life for each of their articles, 66 00:03:35,680 --> 00:03:38,960 Speaker 1: and this one is looking at entertainment in America from 67 00:03:38,960 --> 00:03:45,600 Speaker 1: Singing Yankee Doodle, the streaming avengers. That's been entertainment, and 68 00:03:45,640 --> 00:03:50,680 Speaker 1: then they start with the early Republic. It's all about 69 00:03:50,800 --> 00:03:55,400 Speaker 1: music and fairs because mass entertainment didn't exist. The bigger 70 00:03:55,440 --> 00:03:58,320 Speaker 1: cities like New York and philadelph Philadelphia boasted theaters, but 71 00:03:58,360 --> 00:04:02,520 Speaker 1: for most American families across thirteen newly independent states, public 72 00:04:02,640 --> 00:04:07,920 Speaker 1: entertainment options generally were limited to dances feasts. I tell 73 00:04:07,920 --> 00:04:09,400 Speaker 1: you what, honey, you go to the dance, I'll go 74 00:04:09,400 --> 00:04:10,080 Speaker 1: to the feasts. Ah. 75 00:04:10,560 --> 00:04:12,119 Speaker 2: Yes, that's not a tough call. 76 00:04:12,640 --> 00:04:18,000 Speaker 1: And local traveling fairs. Professor of history says, you have 77 00:04:18,160 --> 00:04:21,360 Speaker 1: large scale gatherings of people for harvest days and feast days. 78 00:04:21,600 --> 00:04:25,440 Speaker 1: In the South, court days also provided entertainment. Those were 79 00:04:25,440 --> 00:04:27,680 Speaker 1: the days when the court was in session in a county, 80 00:04:28,520 --> 00:04:30,920 Speaker 1: so all the lawyers and judges would come together. Anybody 81 00:04:30,960 --> 00:04:33,520 Speaker 1: who had a case that they needed to hear, whatever, 82 00:04:33,560 --> 00:04:35,760 Speaker 1: would all come together, and everybody would come together for 83 00:04:35,839 --> 00:04:40,400 Speaker 1: events like horse racing and wrestling on court days. On 84 00:04:40,480 --> 00:04:43,120 Speaker 1: a typical day, an American family would be more likely 85 00:04:43,120 --> 00:04:46,200 Speaker 1: to entertain itself at home by singing traditional folk songs 86 00:04:46,240 --> 00:04:50,039 Speaker 1: like Barbara Allen, patriotic songs such as Yankee Doodle or 87 00:04:50,120 --> 00:04:53,159 Speaker 1: hymns like Amazing Grace. Local families would visit each other 88 00:04:53,200 --> 00:04:55,960 Speaker 1: to talk, make music, and play simple games like cardter checkers. 89 00:04:56,160 --> 00:04:59,240 Speaker 2: I can imagine gathering my two sons on a Saturday night. 90 00:04:59,279 --> 00:05:02,200 Speaker 2: We're going to sing folk songs and in out the lyrics, 91 00:05:02,680 --> 00:05:03,920 Speaker 2: not bar Brown. 92 00:05:03,600 --> 00:05:09,240 Speaker 1: And again, Dad, Hey, come on now, it's a great song. Meanwhile, 93 00:05:09,279 --> 00:05:13,239 Speaker 1: back on the plantation, Black Americans enslaved were using homemade 94 00:05:13,240 --> 00:05:16,719 Speaker 1: instruments such as stringed gourds to produce music with complex 95 00:05:16,800 --> 00:05:20,039 Speaker 1: rhythms influenced by the African traditions which would later develop 96 00:05:20,080 --> 00:05:23,080 Speaker 1: into blues and jazz. And they like to tell traditional 97 00:05:23,080 --> 00:05:26,279 Speaker 1: stories like Brer Rabbit and nan Sea tricksters who provided 98 00:05:26,320 --> 00:05:30,359 Speaker 1: models for overcoming powerful oppressors. See where that would resonate 99 00:05:31,160 --> 00:05:34,080 Speaker 1: and by the time we moved into the early nineteenth century, 100 00:05:34,880 --> 00:05:38,400 Speaker 1: American families in cities enjoyed a new entertainment option. Public 101 00:05:38,520 --> 00:05:42,920 Speaker 1: gardens places of sanctuary built into cities where you could 102 00:05:42,920 --> 00:05:47,039 Speaker 1: walk around in a more pastoral setting. Most of the 103 00:05:47,040 --> 00:05:49,400 Speaker 1: gardens have stages where shows are put on. People start 104 00:05:49,400 --> 00:05:52,760 Speaker 1: bringing their kids. So is this actually just you know, parks, 105 00:05:53,000 --> 00:05:57,200 Speaker 1: pretty spaces in the midst of the urban grittiness of 106 00:05:57,279 --> 00:06:03,480 Speaker 1: the nineteenth century, which was some a gritty grittiness. Entertainment 107 00:06:03,720 --> 00:06:07,119 Speaker 1: entrepreneurs like Pt. Barhama eventually expanded these gardens to include 108 00:06:07,720 --> 00:06:10,920 Speaker 1: museums and theaters where families could do everything from gawking 109 00:06:10,920 --> 00:06:13,760 Speaker 1: and unusual people that's one way to put it, yeah, 110 00:06:14,520 --> 00:06:17,680 Speaker 1: or animals, to watching performances of fairy tale characters like 111 00:06:17,680 --> 00:06:19,599 Speaker 1: Aladdiner goldielog Let's. 112 00:06:19,440 --> 00:06:21,840 Speaker 2: Go laugh at people with birth defects. 113 00:06:22,120 --> 00:06:25,480 Speaker 1: Oh. In the eighteen forty some gardens and theaters began 114 00:06:25,520 --> 00:06:29,280 Speaker 1: to put on minstrel shows. In a typical performance, family 115 00:06:29,360 --> 00:06:32,280 Speaker 1: might watch a spoof of a Shakespeare play performed in 116 00:06:32,360 --> 00:06:36,200 Speaker 1: blackface with heavy elements of pantomime, as well as the 117 00:06:36,320 --> 00:06:38,880 Speaker 1: minstrel lineup, in which the performance would get up one 118 00:06:38,880 --> 00:06:41,839 Speaker 1: by one to singer tell jokes while the quote unquote 119 00:06:42,000 --> 00:06:44,920 Speaker 1: end men at each end of the line cracked side 120 00:06:45,000 --> 00:06:50,120 Speaker 1: jokes about the performances. Oh, the performances Yeah. Some of 121 00:06:50,160 --> 00:06:52,400 Speaker 1: the most popular minstrel songs of the year are still 122 00:06:52,440 --> 00:06:56,359 Speaker 1: sung today, like Campton Races and O. Susanna says this 123 00:06:56,800 --> 00:06:59,279 Speaker 1: history of Professor the minstrel show was clearly designed to 124 00:06:59,279 --> 00:07:01,960 Speaker 1: demean African Americans, but it was also a major form 125 00:07:02,000 --> 00:07:08,160 Speaker 1: of family entertainment. They're doing these things to appeal to kids. Then, interestingly, 126 00:07:08,839 --> 00:07:12,440 Speaker 1: parlor pianos became more affordable in the mid eighteen hundreds, 127 00:07:13,240 --> 00:07:15,640 Speaker 1: and a lot of people bought pianos. In the eighteen 128 00:07:15,760 --> 00:07:19,560 Speaker 1: sixties saw the emergency emergency board games such as the 129 00:07:19,760 --> 00:07:23,160 Speaker 1: Checkered Game of Life, which we talked about the last 130 00:07:23,200 --> 00:07:26,000 Speaker 1: time we talked about this, which taught and it became 131 00:07:26,080 --> 00:07:28,680 Speaker 1: the Game of Life, which taught children moral lessons by 132 00:07:28,720 --> 00:07:32,000 Speaker 1: rewarding virtues like honesty, industry, and ambition while pushing vices 133 00:07:32,000 --> 00:07:34,600 Speaker 1: like gambling in temperance or idolists. Remember the key to 134 00:07:34,680 --> 00:07:43,560 Speaker 1: that was some of the squares included humiliation, despair, and suicide. Yikes, 135 00:07:44,320 --> 00:07:44,920 Speaker 1: well you got. 136 00:07:44,840 --> 00:07:45,440 Speaker 2: Nothing else to do? 137 00:07:46,080 --> 00:07:49,080 Speaker 1: Yeah, then you got the Gilded Age. Your eighteen eighties 138 00:07:49,080 --> 00:07:53,280 Speaker 1: and nineties circuses got bigger and bigger. Companies like Ringling Brothers, 139 00:07:53,280 --> 00:07:57,600 Speaker 1: Barnum and Bailey offered elephants, equestrian acts, clowns and contortionists 140 00:07:57,600 --> 00:08:00,400 Speaker 1: and a huge, big top that could see thousands. So 141 00:08:00,440 --> 00:08:05,880 Speaker 1: that dates back to the eighteen eighties. Oh, I do 142 00:08:06,040 --> 00:08:10,640 Speaker 1: enjoy a good contortions. In many places, the circus was 143 00:08:10,680 --> 00:08:13,560 Speaker 1: the biggest business anyone had ever seen. They're very organized 144 00:08:13,600 --> 00:08:16,320 Speaker 1: and modern. People were excited by seeing something so new. 145 00:08:16,200 --> 00:08:16,640 Speaker 2: I'm sure. 146 00:08:17,720 --> 00:08:21,320 Speaker 1: And then you'd have your traveling extravaganzas like Buffalo Bill's 147 00:08:21,640 --> 00:08:25,640 Speaker 1: Buffalo Bill Cody's Wild West shows. We've seen those reenacted 148 00:08:25,640 --> 00:08:28,280 Speaker 1: in the movies, which I guess were just spectacular. They 149 00:08:28,280 --> 00:08:31,920 Speaker 1: would have hundreds of performers reenacting frontier battles. 150 00:08:32,120 --> 00:08:35,640 Speaker 2: Well, and then try to imagine that when you haven't 151 00:08:35,679 --> 00:08:40,480 Speaker 2: seen anything the slightest bit entertaining in like five years. 152 00:08:40,640 --> 00:08:41,959 Speaker 1: Well, now, wait a minute, and I was playing the 153 00:08:42,040 --> 00:08:44,800 Speaker 1: Humiliation in Suicide game at home with my friends and singing, 154 00:08:44,840 --> 00:08:45,480 Speaker 1: Barbara Allen. 155 00:08:47,200 --> 00:08:50,240 Speaker 2: I mean, you haven't done anything the least bit out 156 00:08:50,280 --> 00:08:54,880 Speaker 2: of work in school and raising kids every day, day 157 00:08:54,920 --> 00:08:57,120 Speaker 2: after day, week after week, month after month, season after 158 00:08:57,160 --> 00:09:00,600 Speaker 2: season for so long. Yeah, anything comes along to town, 159 00:09:00,800 --> 00:09:04,240 Speaker 2: it's gonna seem pretty exciting. Well, yeah, but how about 160 00:09:04,360 --> 00:09:07,360 Speaker 2: hundreds of performers, like re enacting the battle a little 161 00:09:07,360 --> 00:09:10,079 Speaker 2: big horn be awesome, shooting blanks at each other and 162 00:09:10,120 --> 00:09:13,359 Speaker 2: stuff like that. Oh my god, you'd lose your mind. 163 00:09:13,880 --> 00:09:14,000 Speaker 3: Uh. 164 00:09:14,200 --> 00:09:17,720 Speaker 1: Philadelphia's Centennial Exhibition of eighteen seventy six was the first 165 00:09:17,800 --> 00:09:20,000 Speaker 1: major World's fair to be held in the US. It 166 00:09:20,120 --> 00:09:24,960 Speaker 1: drew nearly ten million visitors, twenty percent of the population 167 00:09:25,080 --> 00:09:30,360 Speaker 1: of the country. Wow sheez in eighteen seventy six. Yeah, 168 00:09:30,400 --> 00:09:33,440 Speaker 1: and that was right around when vaudeville began to take off. 169 00:09:33,480 --> 00:09:36,560 Speaker 1: By the eighteen nineties, millions of Americans would go out 170 00:09:36,600 --> 00:09:40,760 Speaker 1: to vaudeville shows every week. Typical vaudeville show involved a 171 00:09:40,760 --> 00:09:44,240 Speaker 1: series of ten minute acts like stand up comedy, dancing, singing, 172 00:09:44,320 --> 00:09:48,120 Speaker 1: and juggling. Vaudeville troops would travel the country by rail, 173 00:09:48,200 --> 00:09:50,840 Speaker 1: performing at sites from small town opera houses to urban theaters, 174 00:09:50,920 --> 00:09:54,760 Speaker 1: seating several thousand people. Ground floor tickets were about a buck, 175 00:09:54,840 --> 00:09:59,760 Speaker 1: but you got adjust for inflation. Of course, in the home, 176 00:10:00,120 --> 00:10:03,479 Speaker 1: rich family might have one of the new phono graphs 177 00:10:03,600 --> 00:10:06,960 Speaker 1: that played music stored on wax cylinders, but most families 178 00:10:06,960 --> 00:10:11,280 Speaker 1: were still making their own music using sheet music or songbooks. 179 00:10:11,600 --> 00:10:14,640 Speaker 1: They were reading serialized fiction newspapers and magazines. That was 180 00:10:15,360 --> 00:10:19,239 Speaker 1: Charles Dickens how he came to fame writing serialized books, 181 00:10:20,320 --> 00:10:23,160 Speaker 1: kind of sink it up as he went. And then 182 00:10:23,240 --> 00:10:26,880 Speaker 1: the early twentieth century Golden Age of Hollywood, early silent movies, etc. 183 00:10:28,679 --> 00:10:32,040 Speaker 1: First projected on a screen at vaudeville shows during intermissions. 184 00:10:32,679 --> 00:10:35,920 Speaker 1: But after a while people were like, that's more entertaining 185 00:10:35,960 --> 00:10:40,160 Speaker 1: than the show. And then in the late twenties, sound 186 00:10:40,240 --> 00:10:42,720 Speaker 1: came to movies and movie attendance grew by forty percent 187 00:10:42,760 --> 00:10:45,720 Speaker 1: almost immediately. They were amazed. They could see the top 188 00:10:45,760 --> 00:10:48,240 Speaker 1: stars singing and dancing, they could hear the ratitad of 189 00:10:48,280 --> 00:10:51,000 Speaker 1: the guns, and also made for a tremendous amount of 190 00:10:51,120 --> 00:10:57,839 Speaker 1: creativity and movie making. It's interesting airborne warfare came along 191 00:10:57,960 --> 00:11:02,880 Speaker 1: earlier than talkie movies. I mean, maybe that's obvious in 192 00:11:02,880 --> 00:11:05,280 Speaker 1: a way because of the technology, but I don't know. 193 00:11:05,720 --> 00:11:08,839 Speaker 1: It seems odd to me. And then you know, we're 194 00:11:08,920 --> 00:11:11,680 Speaker 1: much more familiar with the twentieth century and how that's changed, 195 00:11:11,720 --> 00:11:14,120 Speaker 1: and there's no reason to go through that. I looked 196 00:11:14,200 --> 00:11:16,120 Speaker 1: up the lyrics hit me. 197 00:11:16,559 --> 00:11:18,960 Speaker 2: In Scarletttown, where I was born, there was a fair 198 00:11:19,000 --> 00:11:21,760 Speaker 2: made dwelling made every youth cry well today. Her name 199 00:11:21,800 --> 00:11:25,040 Speaker 2: was Barbara Allen. It twas in the mery month of May, 200 00:11:25,040 --> 00:11:28,840 Speaker 2: when green buds were swelling. Sweet William on his deathbed, 201 00:11:28,920 --> 00:11:31,200 Speaker 2: leave for the love of Barbara Allen. And it goes on, 202 00:11:31,240 --> 00:11:33,480 Speaker 2: And don't like that yep. I can just see me 203 00:11:33,520 --> 00:11:35,400 Speaker 2: in the song about a hottie, and you see me 204 00:11:35,440 --> 00:11:40,240 Speaker 2: and the kids sitting around singing that. I try that 205 00:11:40,280 --> 00:11:43,720 Speaker 2: this Saturday night. Put away your turn off the TV, 206 00:11:43,840 --> 00:11:47,280 Speaker 2: put away your video games. We're gonna sing. Barbara Allen got. 207 00:11:47,080 --> 00:11:47,800 Speaker 3: A song for you. 208 00:11:48,120 --> 00:11:52,160 Speaker 1: Yeah. The leaves were the buds were a swelling kids. 209 00:11:52,200 --> 00:11:53,840 Speaker 1: Come on, now, some respect. 210 00:11:54,679 --> 00:11:56,880 Speaker 2: People in the past were so dumb. 211 00:11:58,880 --> 00:12:04,280 Speaker 1: Sure, sure they were. Wow, Well, I guess that's it.